Music Review: The Knife – Tomorrow, In A Year [Short]

When faced with a new work by Swedish Electro-Pop artist The Knife you would expect it to be strange, even want it to be. But with "Tomorrow, In A Year", the brother/sister team of Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer bring the listener so far past the boundaries of “strangeness,” that all reference points become useless, like trail markers buried under snow. Known for their atmospheric and eccentric songs, with this album, the duo eschews the pop entirely for a ninety-minute electronic opera and a concept album based on Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species". With little of their trademark sweeteners - hand claps, pulsating dance beats or disco hi-hat – to balance the brooding darkness, this long-awaited follow-up to 2006’s Silent Shout, like Darwin's book, will be received with a certain measure of indignation and disbelief. But The Knife is passionate about the evolution of its music: Let this album sink slowly into your skin and the rewards will be rich. Just don’t listen to it alone; “Tomorrow, In A Year” is as terrifying as it is unique.